Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, is worried that if we develop artificial intelligence, we might be authoring our own demise.
VentureBeat reported that Musk tweeted about his new fear on Saturday, after reading the forthcoming book "Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies" by Nick Bostrom, a philosophy professor at Oxford University.
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
Many great novels and films have forewarned the coming of the robot apocalypse, including "The Matrix" trilogy, however it was 1984's iconic film, "The Terminator," that likely brought such a doomsday idea into the consciousness of the general public. Some may also point to 1982's "Blade Runner," which explored the interaction of humans and androids.
Well-known futurist Ray Kurzweil has been a go-to voice for discussions about any coming "singularity" and he's hypothesized that if and when we ever get there, it will be a net positive. Musk's new concern puts him at odds with many thinkers on the subject.
His opinions also gin up a good amount of press for a new A.I. research company he's invested in, called Vicarious. Musk has yet to explain why he's invested in such a company if he has such a strong fear of the developing technology, however.
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.